NOTES AND QUERIES. 395 



Dunlin in North Notts in Summer Plumage. — On May 13th, 1915, 

 a friend brought me a Dunlin (Tringa alpina) that had that morning 

 flown into a workshop just outside Mansfield; it made a dash for the 

 skylight in its attempt to regain its liberty, but it struck its head 

 with such force that it fractured its skull and died directly. It is a 

 male in summer dress ; it is very unusual to obtain them in their breed- 

 ing-dress in this district. I am not aware of the Dunlin breeding in 

 North Notts, but we frequently see them in small parties in the autumn, 

 particularly when the water in the local reservoirs is low and exposes a 

 fair quantity of mud for them to explore for food. — William Daws. 



Little Owls in North Notts. — The Little Owl (Carine noctua) 

 appears to be increasing rather rapidly in this district (Mansfield) 

 the last year or two ; I have heard of a fair number being shot. Some 

 were said to be young Owls, but by the description given, in several 

 cases, there is no doubt that several of them were Little Owls. I 

 have had three sent me recently, the last on August 28th. One man 

 complained about their destruction of his game chicks by daylight ; 

 he said one- of them was a regular pest, as it was taking these 

 chicks day after day. The first time he saw it, he thought it was a 

 male Sparrow-Hawk, but he waited in ambush for it, and when it 

 fell to his gun it proved to be a Little Owl. — William Daws. 



Stock-Dove Breeding in a Church-Tower. — On August 21st, as I 

 was passing through our churchyard, a Stock-Dove flew out of the 

 hole in the tower which earlier in the year had been occupied by 

 Tawny Owls, and when I went up I found a nest with two eggs. 

 One of these was a failure, but the other hatched, and to-day 

 (September 30th) the young bird was thriving and nearly fit to fly. 

 He is an amusing little chap, snapping his beak at an intruder like 

 an owlet, and striking with his wing at a hand put near him ; in 

 fact, I do not touch him now for fear of his breaking his wing against 

 the stone. I have only seen one nest in the tower before, and that 

 was in the same hole many years ago. There are still (or were a 

 few days ago) two young Stock-Doves in one of our boxes, and two 

 eggs, which looked almost fresh, in another. This bird is our earliest 

 and also our latest breeder ; I have seen eggs in February. — Julian 

 G. Tuck (Tostock Eectory, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk). 



Mandarin Duck Feeding in a Tree. — On Sunday, September 12th, 

 I saw a Mandarin Drake (Aex galericulata) which was hatched last 

 year at the Zoo and has fortunately escaped pinioning, fly from a low 

 fence into a small oak-tree in which some Wood-Pigeons were feed- 

 ing on the green acorns ; I then saw him pulling at the leafy twigs 



